Love in a 4 Letter World

Thanks to solid character development in the early going, this film actually was unexpectedly decent for the first twenty minutes or so. Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, things quickly fell apart, and the end result was pretty much a mess. The writers didn't seem to know if they were making a comedy or drama, and this helped to create a movie that was frequently awkward, and sometimes just plain incoherent. This movie is also terribly dated and it contains several nude scenes that only serve to confirm the weakness of the script. It's not likely too many of you will ever get the chance to see this film, but considering how lame it is, that's probably a good thing.

A while back I saw an early 1970s Montreal film called "Gina" that I really enjoyed. This same channel showed other late 1960s and early 1970s French Canadian films which I decided to tape. I must say I loved them all: "Loving and Laughing" and "Love in a Four Letter World" being the best of the bunch. The others included "Valerie", "The Awakening" and "Two Women in Gold". "Love in a Four Letter World" is about a family (husband,wife and daughter) who have become disillusioned with one another. The father has an affair and his daughter catches him in the act. She has already hooked up with the neighbouring free-love hippies who live next door. When her mother realizes her love has gone out the door she too travels next door for some lovin. This movie leans more on the serious side and can not be considered a comedy. "Loving and Laughing" is about an upper-class, young man named Reggie (played by one-time actor Gordon Fisher) who is enlisted to help a family friend's daughter in Vermont learn French over the summer. The only problem is that Reggie's car dies on the way south and he is then taken on by a travelling group of hippies escaping the law. Reggie is the straight-laced type who at first interacts rather uneasily with his hippie counterparts. But soon he learns to bond with his new friends and actually becomes a leader in their commune. The former leader of the commune is played by the great Andre Lawrence (of "Love in a Four Letter World" fame). His name is Luciean Leplame- a wanted drug infringement criminal. Both he and Reggie hatch a plan to cover up their tracks. Soon Lucien is headed for Vermont instead of Reggie to teach French lessons. The fun is only just beginning for both young men. There is lots of nudity in this film and some subtle slapstick as well. I would consider this movie a comedy for sure. The only real drawback with this film and the others (especially "Love in a Four Letter World") would have to be what appears to be voice-overs. In reality, the voices are the actual actors voices (in English) but the tracking is a bit off. AS well, the actors voices don't seem to be presented in a proper acting tone. They seem to be very loud and over-the-top. I wonder if this was done for a reason? Anyway, for me, the scripts in all of them are wonderful and the lines have a deeper meaning than the actual acting. Just listen to the words that are spoken to Susan Haven in "Love in a Four Letter World" to her dad when she catches him cheating on his wife, or the words spoken at the end of this movie when a local spiritual preacher on the streets of Montreal is talking to some locals. Great stuff!!

There is something about this movie that I have always really liked. I can't put my finger on it, but when it's on TV I can't seem to turn it off! Maybe it's the out-of-sync audio, or the late '60s fashions & music in this classic Canadian drive-in type movie. The plot consists of a small family; A husband, wife & their groovy daughter. When some far-out dudes move next door & open up a record store, this seems to set off a wave of morality laced questions for both the husband/wife and daughter. The plot does seem to drift and tries to make a social statement, but this just adds to the "dated feel" of this movie. If you liked "Return to the Valley of the Dolls", then you are sure to like this one.